A Viper's Prey
by FangirlsDontDoTheCalmThing
Summary: Emmaline Levesque is a good girl. She's never dared to step one toe over the line in her entire life out of fear that she'd lose everyone she held dear. While at Wrestlemania 30, visiting her family, she has one night of uncharacteristic weakness and winds up in bed next to Randy Orton the next day. It's pretty much all a rollercoaster of crazy from there. FIRST WWE FIC THING.
1. notes prologue

I do not own the WWE or any of the Superstars on it's roster. Nor am I insinuating in any way, shape or form that anything written in this story is true because it's not. I came up with this idea on my own. I write this disclaimer to warn all ahead of time that I've never actually written a wrestling fanfiction before, nor am I claiming to know or own any of the people in the story. It'd be nice if I did. But I don't, so there. And I'm not making any money, so... I only own my original character Emmaline. Yes, she is the fictional daughter of Triple H, from a previous relationship he had with another oc I made up who's name is Melia. Again, I stress this.. I do not know these people, nor do the OC's exist anywhere outside of the confines of my pretty little head. This is me.. Bringing back one of the best feuds ever.. Triple H vs Randy Orton. Because, damn it, I miss that feud. And I felt nostalgic. And Randy is one of my favorite wrestlers.

**Good Girl..**

_I have a confession to make.. I, Emmaline Levesque, am a good girl. A squeaky clean, uptight, good girl. I've kissed guys and made out with them, but I'm still a virgin. I'm not really all that pretty and I don't try to put on airs and pass myself off as such. I work my ass off at LSU where I'm going to college to become a pediatric nurse. I probably work too damn hard, because my social life? Sadly lacking. I've probably been on one date since I started college two years ago. I've never stayed out later than midnight nor have I ever snuck out of my father and stepmother's house or done anything that broke one of their rules._

_My life has been carefully planned and constructed so that I never did anything bad, so that I never did anything less than excel and seem like a happy, average and well rounded kid. Because I was so afraid that if I did anything bad, I'd lose my father.. That he'd run out on me like my real mother Malia did._

_For a long time, I prided myself on being a good girl. Then I turned about 18 and I noticed him.. Randy Orton.. He was a few years older than me then, and my father hated him.. I mean he'd rather kill the guy than look at him kind of hate. So, naturally, I ignored the way I felt. And I might have thought it went away, but apparently, it didn't because that's how I'm in the middle of this in the first place._

_You see, I went to Wrestlemania 30 to spend time with my father and stepmother, my extended family, since it's not often we all get to actually spend time together between their road shows and my staunch devotion to academic achievement.. And that's when this all happened._

_I did something I normally never do.. Something I've never done before and something I didn't plan on doing until I was absolutely 100 percent sure that I'd found the one guy I'd spend my entire life with. Call me old fashioned, call me picky, I don't care.. But I never intended to drink too much while I was out with some friends and wind up in bed with Randy Orton._

_I never intended for this to happen. Now that it has, I'm not sure what's going to happen next. But I do know that those old feelings? That crush? It wasn't just a crush._

_I loved him then and so help me God, even if it's wrong in all the worst of ways, I love him now. So does that make me a bad girl now? Can I ever go back to being that good and dependable girl again? I don't actually know. Just like I don't know how all this is gonna go. _

_This is what happens when a good girl screws up and steps out of her comfort zone. This is how I wound up in the crosshairs of Randy Orton, the Viper.. This is how I wound up becoming the prey.  
_


	2. the very awkward morning after

She woke up in a hotel bed that wasn't the one in her own room, with a pounding head and a dry mouth. She rolled over and her cheek brushed skin, that's when her eyes popped open wide and she looked up at the person lying next to her.

She groaned quietly when she realized that it was not Paige, Emma or AJ Lee like she'd initially hoped upon awakening just now. No, this time, she'd really done it. For all her complaints about being a 'good little girl', and being tired of it, being tired of everyone seeing her as just that, a good little girl.. being tired of not knowing who really gave a damn and who was just using her for one reason or another..

She wished like hell that right now, she **hadn't** crossed any lines the night before.

She could hear her father right now, practically, his one iron clad rule about not messing around with the guys on the roster..

Well, suffice to say, if her state of undress was any indication, that rule had most likely been forgotten and broken the night before.

And with the worst possible person she could have chosen, at that. Nevermind that she'd been silently in love with the guy for years now, not daring to speak of it or even let herself even partially acknowledge her feelings for fear of what her father might just do if he knew.. It had to be this guy..

One of the fighters he liked the least.

Randy Orton, roster ladies man.

She raised the covers and looked down, groaned when she confirmed it. She was bare ass naked.. In Randy Orton's hotel room.

With a naked Randy Orton lying beside her, snoring like a lumberjack, sleeping peacefully.

She racked her brains trying to figure out just how in the hell she'd come to be in her present situation. Apparently, she'd gotten twice as drunk as she ever dared to before, and he'd seen that, taken advantage of it. That had to be it, he couldn't have _**wanted**_ her.

At least not in her opinion. She was nothing like the girls he typically dated and had one night stands with. She wasn't drop dead gorgeous, she wasn't exactly a social butterfly and she was smart, driven, she actually had her life carefully plannrd out to a T..

Normally, that is, she was smart. And normally, she wasn't the least bit spontaneous, she was careful, she planned things in advance. But last night hadn't been a normal night...

Last night was just a stupid mistake (or he'd probably think so when he woke up, she sure as hell didn't regret it having happened, even if now she was scared shitless about what might happen next, especially when she told her father what happened, she'd have to, the company was full of gossips and sooner or later, it'd gt around to him and she'd just rather it come from her and not someone else) made in a huge moment of weakness. And she had the very bad feeling that somehow this whole thing was about to come around and bite her right on the ass.

She could practically see the disappointment and anger on her father's face when she had to tell him what she'd done and she was dreading it. Because her father was the only person who'd **never** looked at her in disgust, **never** seen her as a burden, someone they had to deal with.

Hell, he might not even be her biological father for all she knew, her mother had been a notorious liar and loved to sleep around, especially with members of professional wrestling rosters.. But her mother had dropped her off backstage at a show when she'd been about 3 and after confronting Paul Levesque, demanding he either pay her or take the kid off her hands so she could be free again, her father had taken her and raised her.. Alone for a while, and then with Stephanie's help when they began dating and eventually married.

And she'd devoted her whole life to being the perfect daughter, afraid that if she messed up even one time then he'd turn on her too, like her real mother had when she'd left her backstage all those years ago and disappeared.

Randy stopped snoring for a few moments and Emmaline held her breath, waiting for the awkwardness to come. But a few moments later, he was back to snoring again, this time his grip on her body was much tighter, almost tight enough to leave marks on her skin.

Like he wasn't planning on her going anywhere anytime soon.

She tried to think.. How would Emma or Paige handle this? How did AJ handle situations like this? She'd never actually done this sort of thing before and until last night, she'd been a virgin, so she certainly didn't know how one behaved the morning after a one night stand.

Because she wasn't stupid, that was most likely all this was on his part. A one night stand. Something that wouldn't ever be repeated, especially not with her.

Thankfully, the show was in the same town as her college campus this week. Next week they'd be moving on, and she could throw herself full force back into her normal life, forget that last night ever happened. She just had to make it through the rest of the events scheduled to kick off Wrestlemanina and then of course, Wrestlemania..

She groaned when she realized just how many times their paths would invariably cross for the events scheduled for the entire week of Wrestlemania 30.

How the hell was she going to make herself scarce so he didn't see her and do something stupid like insinuate to her father that he'd slept with her?

"_I'll just go to the events I know he's not at. With my dad and my stepmom. And I'll make damn sure my path doesn't cross with his while I'm alone. Because I hate to admit it.. I've always wanted him. But I know that logically I'll never be the one he really wants. Last night was probably just r__andom__ sex, he was probably upset about everything he's been through lately... Or it was revenge on my father for the way he's being treated lately." _she reasoned mentally as she worked on getting herself out of his room without him waking up and catching her.

Once she'd finally wiggled free from the grip he had on her, she quickly started gathering all her clothes, groaning when she realized that the red and black lacy bra and panties she'd been wearing the night before had both been ripped off of her apparently, and now, as a result she was going to have to put her clothes on with no underwear beneath.

Sliding her feet into the red high heels as she finished dressing, she took one last look at him, sprawled across the king sized bed, lying on his stomach now. She wasn't sure why, but she hesitated and bent down, pulled the blanket up over him just as the air kicked on full blast again.

She turned and practically bolted from the room after doing that and ran down the stairs at the end of the hallway to her own room. Once she was safely inside the confines of her own room, she sank down on the bed and rolled over, buried her head in the pillow and let out the loudest scream she could muster.

How the hell could she have been such a fucking idiot?

* * *

Randy knew when he didn't feel her curvy frame wrapped around him, or smell her green apple and vanilla scented shampoo and body wash, the scent of her perfume anymore that she was gone. He lie there a few minutes going over just why she'd gotten up and practically bolted out of the hotel room and he came up empty.

Things actually seemed to be going okay the night before, he'd finally gotten her alone without Triple H or one of his buddies sniffing around and giving him the riot act. He'd finally gotten to talk to the girl that had caught his attention the first time he'd met her, and held it throughout the years following.

Then she'd stopped coming to shows and he'd gotten on with his life and for a while, he'd managed to convince himself that it was just a phase, that he'd just wanted to stick it to his boss in some way, that's why he'd even noticed her in the first place.

He'd managed to convince himself that was the only reason he'd ever noticed her back then, but when he ran into her last night at a nightclub after the Hall of Fame Inductions.. He knew better.. Because seeing her again, older now, well it only enhanced how he'd felt back then.

And when he'd started to talk to her, asked her to dance with him.. It hadn't been enough. And they'd wound up back in his hotel room after that.

Now, she was gone without even a note or waking him up to tell him goodbye. She'd slipped out while he was sleeping, and now he was lying in bed trying to work out why she'd just up and leave like she had.

He had a few suspicions, from what he gathered about her in their long talk last night, she didn't even go to nightclubs all that much normally.. And she didn't drink like she had last night normally either. And she most certainly didn't just fall into bed with random men..

Or so he'd thought at least. He was at least 90 percent sure she'd probably been a virgin until last night, just going by the way she'd acted. But then again, it all could've been an act. She wasn't here to ask, he couldn't say one way or another.

Hell, now that he thought about it, and really thought about it, she could've been telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. She could've been trying to make things easier on him by not being around when he woke up. Maybe she did it all the time.

He didn't really know, if he had to be totally honest about it.

He slid out of bed and got dressed, decided to go down to the fitness room in the hotel and try to rid himself of some of the frustration he felt at waking up alone.

He'd just stepped out into the hallway when his cell phone rang and John asked him rapid fire questions, then chewed Randy's ass out for not waking up and at least talking to her before she just slipped out. "You wanted her how long, man? And you can't even wake your ass up to see her out? And you wonder why you're the ladies man on the roster." John said as Randy said through gritted teeth, "Apparently, John, she didn't want me seeing her leave."

"But I thought you two finally got it all out last night?" John asked as Randy faltered and then said "Sort of."

"The hell do you mean sort of? You either said something about how you felt or you didn't, man, which is it?"

"Okay, so I didn't exactly tell her."

"Damn it, Randy.. Did you or did you not say that if you saw her again you were going to finally tell her?"

"Yeah, but.. I'm shit at this kind of stuff."

"No, Randy, you're not.. Not when you're in conquest mode. It's when you actually want the girl in question that you actually start to have problems. Which, by the way, I've always thought was fucked up." John said as Randy hung up on him, silencing the nagging for a while.

He just needed to think. He needed a plan because she wasn't like girls he usually went for when he was in conquest mode.

His tricks wouldn't work on her when she wasn't under the influence. And if what she said last night was true, then she wasn't ever under the influence. She didn't go wild like other girls, apparently.

He wanted so badly to believe that but given that he actually didn't know her beyond all their talks backstage when she'd come with her dad, and the talk they had last night, and what Paul actually did say about his daughter around the guys backstage..

He just wasn't sure if he should or not.

He wasn't in control of the situation for once, and this knowledge frustrated him and drove him insane. He couldn't get last night off his mind.

The way her body felt against his, the way her lips felt all over him, the way she giggled when he'd kissed a trail from her neck all the way down to her hip after ripping her bra and shirt right off her and he'd found a ticklish spot. Everything about her kept repeating in his mind like a movie.

By the time he'd finished working out, he'd come to one conclusion.

He had to do something about this.

Hearing his name called had his head snapping up and he practically growled when he saw Dolph Ziggler standing there in the doorway.

"The hell is wrong with you, Orton? Bosses daughter turn you down ? Ya know, you're lucky Triple H didn't see you talking to her last night or he'd have been done with you in a second.. Maybe then somebody who deserved those fucking belts would have them." Dolph gloated as he continued to lean casually, smirking at Randy the whole time.

"Fuck off, Ziggler." Randy growled as he looked at Dolph with a seriously pissed offf look on his face to show that he was serious and if Ziggler didn't fuck off in the next few seconds, he was going to kick his spaghetti haired ass.

* * *

In the comfort of her own hotel room, Emmaline sat on the counter in the spacious bathroom of the suite, painting her toenails. She'd decided that the adult thing to do, the smart thing to do, was to return to campus and maybe come to the events that were so crowded there'd be no way she'd cross paths with Randy.

But it didn't mean that she liked having to do that.

Especially not as long as she'd been in love (or infatuation, it was probably better for all parties involved, if she referred to it as infatuation and not love because the L word only got people hurt, destroyed lives, at least 99 percent of the time, where she was concerned.) with Randy Orton without ever having the balls required to tell him how she felt.

After all she was just a kid.. She was the ugly duckling nerd daughter of Paul Levesque. She wasn't some drop dead sexy supermodel with confidence and a smile that lit up a room. She wasn't someone that guys lined up around a block to be with or would die for.

She was quiet, she spooked easily and for the most part, she was practical. And she wasn't pretty, not in the slightest.. She had dirty blonde hair, her nose was all wrong for her face, her lips were too big, her glasses too thick.

Hence the reason she was going to become a pediatric nurse as opposed to 'going into the family business'. She wasn't cut out for the limelight, nor did she want it. If not for her father, she probably wouldn't even know what pro wrestling was. As it were, she only watched every now and then, but when he (or randy, she couldn't lie, she loved to watch him in a match too, he was just so intense) was fighting, she often found herself wincing, biting all her nails and half afraid that she'd see him be severely injured.

A knock on her door had her tensing as she called out from the bathroom, "What?"

"It's me, AJ." AJ Lee answered as Emmaline slid off of the counter and sprinted to the door of her hotel room, opening it quickly, pulling AJ in and quickly closing and locking it behind her. AJ looked at her with a raised brow and asked "Everything alright?"

"Hell no.. I really, really messed up, AJ.. My dad will have a coronary when I have to tell him.. And Randy's going to tell everyone and I'll be the joke of the locker room.. Because we both know, girl, last night meant nothing to Randy.. "

AJ raised a brow and then blinked. "You and Randy? Last night? But I thought you went for a walk when you left the nightclub.. To that park down the street.. That's what you specifically told Paige and Emma and I you were gonna do. You said you wanted to walk around and get some fresh air.. So.. how the hell did you wind up in bed with Randy Orton?"

She went through everything she did remember about the night before and finished quietly, "And that's it.. Beyond that, I don't remember anything else.. I'm at least ninety nine percent sure that we slept together. I mean I woke up naked, in his bed, my whole body aches, I've got more hickies than a leopard has spots... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out." Emmaline finished as AJ gaped at her and said "Wow.. So your first time ever was..."

"During a drunken blackout that I'll probably never remember. And I won't dare to ever repeat. Nope, after last night I'm pretty much decided.. I'd rather be the good naïve daughter. It's much less risky, and I don't do stupid shit that will wind up biting me right square on my damn it, this couldn't have happened at a worse possible time, either, they're just getting along now, Dad's even talking about revising and revisiting the whole Evolution storyline now that he's gotten uncle Dave to come back for a little while.. I don't wanna be the fuckin Helen of Troy that destroys the company. I just wanna be normal. I want no part of this life! And I want Randy to not be killed by my dad." Emmaline finished her friend's sentence as she groaned and put her head in her hands.

"At least I actually don't have a V card to stamp now, huh? The bitches back at school won't keep calling me a prude now. Not that I'm gonna go around advertising that shit to anybody anytime soon, but.." she tried making light of the situation as AJ looked at her in concern and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her.

"Question.. When you were saying all those things last night, while you were drinking.. About how you've always felt around him.. Did you mean them?"

"Yeah.. But AJ, let's be serious.. I'm not some supermodel.. And he's a pro wrestler.. Even if I did finally telll him, it'd never actually last unless I did what Mama Steph and Daddy do.. And I have my life all planned out... Remember? I'm going to finish college, intern at the hospital while I'm taking the nursing program.. Eventually I will become a pediatrician. There is no room in that plan anywhere for things like this. Besides.. I've always wanted him.. If I were to act on that, I'm pretty sure my daddy would kill him. He hates the guy. He always has. It's just for the best all around, AJ, if I put this out of my head." Emmaline protested as AJ raised a finger and cut her off, then said quietly, "You can still be a pediatrician and be happy."

"I will be.. I had last night.. I'll just have to kinda treasure that.. At least I can't say I've never had the guts to even approach him now.. I won't regret what happened last night.. I just.. I can't let myself be stupid enough to think that there's even a slight chance it'll work out for us.. Or that he even feels anything for me. We were drunk, he was horny, I was available.. That's it, plain and simple. He didn't actually feel anything."

"How do you know? Did you ask him?" AJ asked, badgering her friend. She hated it when Emmaline got like this and stubbornly stuck her head back into the sand. The girl was probably one of the most careful and controlled girls she knew.. The only problem was that Emmaline was a little too controlled, a little too cautious. AJ worried about that sometimes, she knew that Emmaline stressed out easily over small and trivial things that most people would laugh off.

She knew why, of course, they were pretty close friends now, and had been for almost 2 years.. But she still didn't see why Emmaline didn't just let go and have a little fun now and then. Like she had last night. The girl was practically glowing in the dark right now, but she couldn't see it for herself because she was too damn busy doing damage control over a situation that hadn't even become problematic yet.

She was already thinking negatively and worried about the fallout and so far, to AJ's knowledge, nobody but her, Emmaline and Randy knew what happened.

"No, AJ, I didn't. Too busy trying to get the hell out of Dodge before he woke up and things got awkward, remember?" Emmaline pointed out as AJ shook her head and then said "First of all.. Stop worrying.. Nothing's been said, nobody but us knows yet. Besides, you said it yourself.. Randy and Triple H are getting along now. Maybe it'll be okay."

"But if Randy was just using me to piss off my father, sooner or later, AJ, everyone will know.. And how do I know this isn't just some plan Randy's got to screw over my dad, get even with him for the whole feud a few years ago? Huh?" Emmaline argued as AJ shook her head and butted in to point out "What makes you automatically assume that last night only happened as a way to piss off your dad? You're not giving the other person involved a lot of credit."

"AJ, seriously? We're still talking about this? Let's just not, okay? I have to figure out what I'm gonna do.. But for right now, I just kinda wanna not think. Let's watch tv or something.. I rented some horror movies a night or two ago.. Wanna maybe just watch them with me?"

"But I thought we'd go sightseeing."

"I can't now, obviously. I might run into him.. And I just... I don't trust myself around him. Last night was a good point as to why I shouldn't ever trust myself around him." Emmaline said as AJ gave her a strange look and then said "So let me get this straight.. Your plan is to retreat.. To hide out in your hotel room for the rest of the week like you've done something horrible, committed some terrible kind of sin or something?"

"Yeah.. Pretty much. And when I do leave my room I'm gonna be with you or my parents. Or Emma and Paige. People who can stop me from crossing his path again."

"Yeah, how about no. That makes no sense at all. Come on, get dressed.. We're going on a tour of haunted houses in the French Quarter, just like we planned when we planned my 'trip' in advance last week on Skype. I've been looking forward to it, damn it." AJ said as Emmaline sulked a moment and then said stiffly, "Fine.. But if I see him, I'm running for cover."

"Oh no you're not.. You realize how stupid that sounds, right?"

"It may be stupid.. But I don't think I can handle seeing him laugh at me or hearing whatever he's gonna say about last night.. Not right now at least." Emmaline said as she quickly dressed and slid on a hoodie and slid on some sunglasses.

"You're not serious.." AJ said as she tried not to laugh.

"I'm serious as a heart attack, cherie. Let's go before I lose my nerve. Maybe he's moved on to another target now." Emmaline said as she slid her feet into a pair of ancient and thick soled black engineer boots.

They'd just stepped into the hallway when she saw him getting off of the elevator on her floor. She swore and grabbed AJ's hand, dragging her friend down the hallway practically, careful not to look directly at Randy. Randy called her name, she pretended not to hear him.

John raised a brow and looked at his friend then started to laugh.. "Oh wow, man.. Normally the ladies are practically floating on the ceiling after a night with Randy Orton.. Losing your touch there, are you?" John asked as he ducked the fist Randy sent to his upper arm while staring intently at the hallway Emmaline vanished down seconds before.

He grumbled and shook his head.

John mused aloud "Do you think maybe that she thinks you're just into her to get to daddy? I mean you two don't really get along.. And you haven't ever. And she knows that.. And we all know how tightly wound she is, how private.. Maybe she's worried that you're gonna take this and use it to taunt her dad."

Randy mulled it over and then grumbled as he realized that might explain her odd behavior and her apparent need for a 'disguise' just to leave her hotel room just now.

She figured last night was a one time thing and that he was just using her for whatever reason. Which was the exact opposite of what he really felt and why last night happened in the first place. But naturally, she didn't see it that way.

And now, apparently, she was going to go out of her way to avoid him until the show left Louisiana at the end of the week.

"You might be right.. And if what just happened is any indication,Cena.. Looks like I'm gonna have my hands full trying to prove myself otherwise. Good thing I like a challenge, huh?"

"Son.. That ain't a challenge.. That is gonna be mission impossible." John quipped, again ducking the punch Randy sent to his upper arm as he glared at him, clearly not amused by the pun John used.

"Would you relax? Good thing is you obviously had some kind of effect, right?"

"Yeah.. Now she's disgusted by what happened. Kind of the exact fucking opposite of what I wanted." Randy muttered as John shrugged and said "Never thought I'd see the day when Randy Orton, known ladies man, lost his golden touch."

"Haven't lost it, Cena.. Just don't want this to be another one of my conquests.. No, I've got something entirely different in mind this time around.. Something maybe a little more permanent.. Or something like that." Randy said as he coughed a little to cover what he said.

John, however, caught it and gaped at his friend for a moment.. "Are we talkin about burning the black book? Or just a long string of one nighters?"

Randy held out his cell phone and with a smirk shrugged then said "Go through my contacts. I think you'll figure it out, Cena. And it's really, really gonna piss Trips off when he finds out that I don't intend to honor his little threat from years ago and stay away this time. That I'm gonna fight.. This time, damn it, I'm gonna damn sure make it crystal clear that I want her. I don't give a shit what happens anymore. I've kept it quiet long enough, I think. And I only did it, to begin with, was for her.. I didn't wanna scare her, she was younger then. Might not have taken it well."

"Is this about how you feel or about sticking it to the boss though?"

"Oh.. It's about me finally getting everything I want which is mainly her. With me, where I know she belongs.. But in the process, I'm gonna just about have to start a fucking civil war to get her. And I can pretty much kiss any shot at the title ever again, goodbye. Levesque hates me, we both know that hasn't gone away overnight. He's just using me because it works for him right now." Randy said quietly as John looked at him a moment and then said with a smirk, "Awww... Mr. Untouchable's been shot in the ass by Cupid."

"Fuck you, Cena."

"So.. How's it feel.. Being one of us. Not above the sting of Cupid's arrow?" John joked as Randy glared and the two continued to walk down the hallway, Randy trying to figure out if the room adjoining Emmaline's room was empty.

And after checking around, he figured out who had the room adjoining Emmaline's. John raised a brow and asked "You sure you want crazy chick's help?"

"Not really, but.. She is Emmaline's friend.. And she does have the room I want. She'll love mine, it's just down the hall from those Shield bastards she's always twittering about." Randy said with a calm smirk as he slid the note he'd just written to AJ underneath her door and he and John started to walk back down to his own room.

Emmaline and AJ stopped in the parking lot, catching their breath. Emmaline pulled the hood off of her long dirty blonde hair and fixed her bright brown eyes on her best friend as she asked quietly, "Do you think it worked?"

"Sure it did, Emmaline." AJ retorted as she tried not to laugh at the lengths her best friend was apparently willing to go not to have Randy see her now.

They got into Emmaline's convertible and spun out of the parking lot, heading first to Emmaline's college campus so Emmaline could grab some clean clothes and her laptop, the books and note cards needed for a thesis paper she was in the midst of writing.

"Do you ever just do something that's not work?"

" I did last night, AJ.. Think I'm good on my unplanned fun quota for a while.. Besides, you're my fun person.. You're the person who comes up with all the goofy stuff for us to do. I like it that way. I enjoy our little road trips and stuff. That's more than enough fun for me."

"Sure. Right." AJ quipped as they turned into the parking lot where the ghost tour for the French Quarter was going to start in an hour or so.

"We've got time for food.. I know this place that has amazing beigenets." Emmaline said as she and AJ took off for one of her favorite sidewalk cafes.

They slid into her usual back of the cafe booth and started to eat their pastries and drink the milkshakes they'd gotten, talking animatedly as AJ tried over and over again to jog her memory about the night before.

Emmaline groaned as she thought she saw one of the guys on the roster walking up the sidewalk.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just thought I saw.."

"Ahh.. So you're sitting here watching for Randy, basically, and yet you say you're okay with last night just being a one time thing.. What about that statement doesn't make sense to you, college girl?"

"Haha, funny, AJ.. No, I actually thought I saw another one of the guys from the roster.. And he looked right at me with this strange look."

"Wasn't Ambrose, was it? Because he's a little out there."

"As in the wheel's turning but the hamster's dead or Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off of a dove and pissing on the Alamo crazy?"

"The verdict's out on that actually. I mean he seems okay to me, but hey.. To everybody but you, Paige and Emma I'm considered a whackjob currently." AJ said as she licked lemon filling from her fingertip and got back to the topic at hand, Randy and Emmaline.

Emmaline groaned and managed a weak laugh as she asked "You're enjoying this entirely too much aren't you?"

"Hmm.. Maybe just a little? I mean it makes no sense to me. Why avoid him? You're both adults."

"But my dad is Triple H.. And he's funny about me and guys. Always has been. And he hates Randy."

"But you're obviously crazy in love with the guy and you have been since you two first actually met.. Why give up on that?"

"Because, AJ.. Love isn't really all you need. And dating a professional wrestler, being involved with one, even.. It doesn't fit in with my plan, damn it. And besides.. My dad would never allow it. Ever. So it's out of the question, even if I thought there was a snowballs chance in hell that he was even remotely interested in me beyond a one night stand that happened because of drunken stupidity." Emmaline explained as AJ grumbled and shook her head.

Somehow, AJ Lee was now even more determined to make sure that Emmaline and Randy's paths crossed at least two more times by the end of this week.

Call her crazy, but she just had this feeling where the two of them were concerned. And she really thought that maybe Emmaline needed last night to happen.. And she believed that everything happened for a reason.

And it was only a matter of time before the two of them saw what reasons were behind Fate's decision to throw them together the night before. And AJ, for one, wanted to be on hand to see it all play out.

"This is for your own good, girl." she muttered as she texted an old boyfriend.. If Cena weren't his best friend, damn it, she wouldn't bother.. But AJ just wanted to be sure that Randy hadn't done what he had the night before, to Emmaline, to get some kind of twisted revenge on Triple H.

Once she knew that, she'd know what she was gonna do next to sort of help Fate out one way or another. And almost as soon as she sent the text to John, John read it with a raised brow and texted back carefully and covertly. Then he put his phone up and pretended to have been listening to Randy.

The less either of them knew about what he had in mind, and apparently what AJ had in mind.. The better off they were.

Because Randy would be pissed at them for butting in.

And Emmaline.. Well from what little John did remember about her, the girl was nothing if not extremely tightly wound.

And this entire series of events was about to become a three ring circus.. But hey.. Emmaline needed this to happen for her to show her that life wasn't all serious and grim and disappointing.

That she could have things she wanted. That she was good enough for someone. That she did deserve and need love.


	3. confrontations

CHAPTER TWO

_Confrontations  
_

Their eyes met across the buffet set up at breakfast the next morning and quickly, Emmaline looked away, pretended interest in her plate. She wasn't hungry, she felt so guilty and tense, just sitting and waiting on the other shoe to drop, really. Waiting on Randy to gloat to her father or him to tell the whole locker room and then she be the laughing stock.

"You okay, Emmaline?" her father asked her as he shoveled bacon into his mouth and stared at her intently. For a split second she almost thought he might know something was up. Her mind swam in a blind panic and she tried to figure out how not to blurt out what she'd done two nights ago with Randy at the breakfast table of all places. Paul studied his daughter and repeated the question again. This time Emmaline's survival instincts kicked in, lucky enough for her and she said quickly, "Yeah.. Just tired I guess.. I mean me and the girls went all over town yesterday, we even went to one of those rebuild projects and saw how people are volunteering to rebuild since Katrina hit here. I guess, Daddy, I just overexerted myself?" she bit her lower lip as she reached for a buttery biscuit and took a few big bites to convince him she was okay, make it look like everything was completely and totally fine.

It actually wasn't, and as of right now, she was living on borrowed time with her good girl status hanging in the balance. She just wanted to enjoy her father not being grossly disappointed in her before the shit hit the fan.

Stephanie, however, watched her stepdaughter like a hawk. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Emmaline was beyond her normal level of all stressed out and noone to choke.

That something was bothering her.

She had, after all, been more of a mother to Emmaline, and considered Emmaline as a real daughter, not just her stepdaughter. She'd raised her when Emmaline's own mother tried to either bribe Paul for money or force him into taking her to raise as a single father, just because the woman claimed Emmaline was a 'hassle' and she 'wasn't cut out for this maternal crap'..

Yes, those had been the woman's exact words, Stephanie still had the letter that Emmaline's mother had pinned to the bib of Emmaline's oversized overalls when she'd been originally intending to just ditch Emmaline backstage and haul ass before anyone saw her.

She kept it because she thought that maybe one day she and Emmaline needed to have a serious talk about her past and how it still affected her now. But with Emmaline being as skittish and closed off as she was already, Stephanie was trying to bide her time and pick a moment.

It seemed like maybe that moment was coming soon, whether Emmaline was too stressed and it still hurt too much or not. Because she'd noticed a few things, and she'd noticed a few patterns in Emmaline's life that concerned her a great deal.

"So did you have fun?"

Emmaline smiled a genuine smile and nodded. But just like the smile had come, it was gone again quickly. And Stephanie couldn't help but notice that every time she happened to look up and around, Randy Orton sat watching Emmaline intently.

A few times, Stephanie could have almost sworn she heard him hissing her stepdaughter's name as if trying to get her attention.

But Emmaline, to her credit, seemed to be doing a fantastic job at ignoring the stares and the attempts to get her to look up and at him.

Emmaline rolled her eyes as she looked up for a split second and saw Randy looking at her, watching her eat intently, almost like a viper watching the prey.

She turned to the side and continued to eat.

Stephanie noticed the little slight of hand gestures and things began to piece themselves together and she realized that Emmaline was more stressed than normal.. And there was a perfectly good reason for that.

She might possibly have feelings for Randy Orton.. Feelings that thanks to the horrible woman who gave life to her, she didn't know how to deal with and express.. And thanks to her father's hatred of Randy, and her fear of everyone she cared about walking away, she'd never attempt to try dealing with or expressing her feelings.

"Gonna go down to the pool. I'll see you guys in a few hours on the green room. I'd go finish my term paper, but AJ's bitching that I don't let loose enough." Emmaline joked only halfway as Stephanie spoke up and then said "I thought you and I could go grab something to eat later, maybe you could take me on a tour around town? Maybe we'd go to a movie or something?" as she fixed her eyes on Emmaline intently and mouthed covertly, "We need to have a talk later."

Emmaline's stomach churned nervously. She'd been worried about her dad catching on or finding out what happened two nights ago.. She'd never assumed it'd be her stepmother who pieced things together and called her out on it.

Suddenly her halfway decent mood started to vanish rapidly and she nodded and said with as convincing a smile as she could manage, "Sure. I'd love that.. Daddy, you're cool with that?"

"Of course. You need to loosen up. Just do that report thing tomorrow.. It's not like you have classes for another few days, vacation, remember?"

She nodded and hugged them both, Stephanie whispering in her ear, "Would you relax? It's nothing bad. I just think we need to talk about a few things that have been lurking around for a long time. You need to hear a few things." before letting her go. Emmaline slunk out of the buffet area and was walking across the lobby, listening to her Iphone's music player when Randy's hand on her shoulder stopped her and she felt herself being dragged out of sight and down a dark and forgotten hallway, possibly one that the maids and other hotel servicemen used to go up and down between floors to clean in.

He turned her around and she gave him a puzzled look.

"Did you not hear me calling your name?"

"Nope, actually."

"I think you did, Emmaline.. I think we both know you did... But for whatever reason, you're doing this duck and dodge thing with me. Sooner or later, we're gonna talk about it."

"I'd really rather not, okay? Look, you got your revenge if that's what you were doing this for, I can finally say I'm not a virgin anymore, if I wanted and I was that kinda girl.. We through here? Or did you wanna say something to humiliate me?"

Randy blinked at her in shock as he realized exactly how huge the other night should have been for her. "I.. Hell, I figured you're in colllege.. In Louisiana.."

"That in itself shows just how well you actually know me." Emmaline said quietly as she looked up at him, a hurt look in her eyes for maybe a split second. She fidgeted and then asked again "Is that all?"

"You don't know me either so don't stand there and pretend you aren't making and stating your own damn fucked up assumptions of me and my intentions." Randy grumbled as she looked at him a moment, confused. "Look.. I know how it is back here, okay? I'm not gonna tell anybody."

"And I wasn't doing it to piss your father off." Randy said stiffly as he watched her eyes, watched the way they darted around the small and remote hallway.

As if she were looking for the fastest and most discreet way off of that hall and away from him. Like he scared her or something. Which baffled him, it really did.. He was scary to some, but he wasn't anywhere near the calibur of scary as say Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose.

He got the feeling that it wasn't him that scared her.

He wasn't entirely sure why he did what he did next, but he pushed her back against the wall, his hips pinning her in, pinning her against him. His hand closed over the back of her neck and he pulled her lips to his. _Was he just a glutton for fucking punishment, really_, he found himself wondering as he kissed her.

She did try to fight it, he had to give her that. She fought it like hell until he laughed and said calmly, "Just stop." then she groaned and his tongue slid over her lips, trailing slowly across them before meeting her tongue, twisting and tangling with it. He growled a low growl and then muttered quietly, "Question.. If I were just trying to use you, Emmaline.. Why the fuck would I spend so much time trying to get your attention now? Because if I'd b een using you? I'd have got what I wanted, done what I wanted and I'd be done. That's how I am."

Emmaline studied him with a blank look as she tried to figure out what he was up to and why he did seem to pop up everywhere she was since their night together.

Surely he didn't want her.. If he did, then when he got her he'd only be disappointed.

He laughed and shook his head, studying her with an amused smirk. "You really don't know do you?"

"What?"

"You don't know that you're kinda like an addiction. I've been warned once.. This time around? It's definitely not gonna be pretty when all hell breaks loose. I'm gonna go now before someone sees. Because contrary to what you think, Emmaline.. I'm trying my best here not to get you dragged in the middle of this."

She furrowed her brow at his cryptic words and wondered just what the hell he was up to.. And what he'd meant about having been warned away from her before? Why? He'd never noticed her, to her knowledge, until two nights ago when their one night stand took place.

She walked out of the hallway and got onto the elevator to her room completely and totally confused. And she got the feeling that the other shoe was indeed about to drop. That her life was about to begin to completely unravel yet again.

"Damn it." she swore to herself as she decided hastily that tonight she was going back to campus. She clearly never should've chosen to spend the week with her father.. Not knowing that Randy was on the roster still and not knowing how she felt about him, how restless she'd been lately.. How she'd wanted just one taste of anything she thought 'bad for her'.

Apparently, this forbidden fruit was going to come with a hefty price.

Once she was in her hotel room, she started throwing things into her suitcases and paused abruptly when she heard her stepmother speak up and ask "What's going on?"

"I just realized I have a ton of work due.. I really need to go back to LSU, Mama Steph."

"Or you're running. But the bigger question is, why are you running? Because I've noticed the tension.. Between you and a certain guy?" Stephanie asked casually as Emmaline froze and the color drained from her face simultaneously.

"What tension? We barely know one another." she lied. Stephanie shook her head and then said quietly, "Oh you might not know him, Emmaline.. But trust me.. He's noticed you.. He knows all about you.."

Emmaline shrugged and said mostly to herself "So?"

"So, I'm asking you again.. Has something happened there?" Stephanie repeated her earlier question firmly as she shut the door, locked it and sat down on Emmaline's bed.

Emmaline paced and started to tear up. This was it.. She was finally about to lose her father because he'd be disgusted with her too.. And he'd shut her out like her mom had before she'd tracked him down then dumped her on him as a child and ran like hell.

"Before you answer me, I want you to know something.. Nothing you do or say is going to make us do what Malia did. That woman wasn't your mother, I honestly call her a baby factory. Because without her, Emmaline, I wouldn't have gotten to help raise you.. Aurora, Vaughn and Murphy wouldn't have their sister and your daddy probably wouldn't be the same guy either." Stephanie said as she dug around and held out the letter that her mother had pinned to her before her dad caught her and they had a verbal brawl in the backstage hallway that night.

"I kept it."

"Why though? I don't want to think about her, much less be reminded.. Look, I get what you're trying to do, Mama Steph.." Emmaline trailed off. Stephanie shook her head and said "That letter and everything you ever heard that woman say still affects you.. And until you stop letting it you're never going to have any kind of peace. You won't ever actually be happy and you won't ever get brave enough to admit that what you want might not always be what we want for you. And you won't go for it."

Emmaline thought it over and said quietly, " I just don't want anybody to look at me like she did ever again. I don't want to be someone's problem."

"And you're not, sweetie. You never have been." Stephanie said as she looked at Emmaline and asked her again, "Now.. What's the answer to what I asked you."

"I went to a nightclub with AJ and the girls about two nights ago.. And I drank.. Way more than I had any business drinking considering I don't do it often and I really cannot handle my alcohol." Emmaline started as she looked at Stephanie who looked at her and nodded, indicating that she needed to keep going.

The problem was, she was more afraid to continue and tell what happened than she'd been of anything in her life.

"I ran into Randy and we started talking.. And he asked if I wanted to go for a walk in the park.. So I went.. And a song was playing on the radio in some cafe and he stops in the middle of the sidewalk, and he says that he wants to dance with me. Doesn't ask, just pulls me against him. It was kinda weird, he looked at me..." she trailed off as the bits of that night she hadn't remembered previously came rushing back to her. But she could tell that her stepmother wasn't letting her stop the story there, she took a few deep breaths and continued to speak, cautiously, a scared tone in her voice as she said "We went back to his room.."

"And?"

"And you know what happened.. You know how I am about discussing stuff like that." Emmaline admitted and then said with a bitter laugh, "And that's another reason he and I would never work.. I'm so emotionally retarded thanks to that woman I can't even discuss sex or emotions without going all quiet and tense, or just plain stupid. He'd get sick of it." as Stephanie smirked to herself.

Now they were actually getting somewhere.

"So you have thought about that before? I mean with him.." Stephanie asked as she looked at Emmaline who shrugged and said "It'd never work out. I know every single problem we'd have. I know exactly what would wind up happening."

"You're definitely intelligent, Emmaline, However, you are not God.. Nor are you anyone else.. Nor can you predict the future.. But I was a lot like that at your age.."

Emmaline raised a brow, looked at her stepmother who said "I thought I had it all figured out.. And then your father started randomly inserting himself in my life. At first I thought he was just doing it to get to my dad."

"I'm at least ninety percent certain, Mama Steph, he is doing this to get to my dad. I mean Dad's never actually liked the guy.." Emmaline said as Stephanie looked at her and said with a laugh "I knew you watched it. I knew you watched the show, even if you claim you don't."

"Uhh, yeah, but only for the parts you guys are in or AJ, Paige and Emma."

"And Randy."

"Huh? No.. No.."

"Are you sure? Because your protesting an awful lot to not even be remotely interested in the guy." Stephanie insisted as she gave Emmaline a firm look, demanding an answer. Emmaline shrugged and looked out the hotel room's bay window as she sighed and then said quietly, "Doesn't matter, does it? Because it's not like Daddy will actually allow that to happen. And things right now are good for Randy, they're not fighting like they used to, he's getting the chance he deserved."

"It does matter.. See, I'm listening to this, Emmaline and I'm hearing my own problem all over again.. And I'm telling you, Emmaline, there's a lot that you really don't know about the situation in it's entirety." Stephanie said carefully as Emmaline turned around and shrugged as she zipped her backpack shut then finally said "Like what? He only noticed me that night because I was drunk and my guard was down."

"Do you really know that though?"

"Pretty damn sure."

"He was trying to get your attention while we were eating breakfast."

"Probably to mess with my head. Evidently, he thinks that I'm some stupid little girl." Emmaline said quietly as she puzzled over what happened between them in the hallway just a little while ago.. Why kiss her?

_'It's all part of his plan. This is how he is, duh. This is pretty much how all men behave. It's why you don't date, duh. You see the girls in your dorm crying over their ice cream when some guy hurts them and you realize that while you'd give anything to actually have that problem, it's better for you if you don't because you'd just wind up disappointing whatever poor idiot notices you. You also don't know who you can trust, if anybody, because everybody knows who your daddy is.. They're usually after something when they notice you, that's how it worked out when those few guys in high school actually acknowledged your existance, remember?' _she thought to herself as she bit her lower lip.

"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked as Emmaline plastered on her best convincing smile and nodded, then said "I'm okay. Just afraid that all this is somehow gonna come out in the open and Daddy will be furious. I don't want that to happen."

"Because you're afraid that if it did he'd do what Melia did, right?" Stephanie asked as Emmaline looked down and then said quietly, "To some degree, yes. Then there's the way I felt while I was with him that night. It scares the living hell out of me. I just.. I can't deal with it right now. Me going back to campus is best for everyone, but I'm still gonna come and hang out with you guys here at the hotel.. I just.. I don't trust myself if I cross his path again." she said as she added to herself _'Yeah, because you've already ran into him once since two nights ago and you couldn't cave in to the kiss he gave you fast enough. That kind of feeling is scary.. Then again you've never handled not being in control of a situation or yourself very well, have you?"_

"What are you going to tell your dad and your sisters?" Stephanie asked as Emmaline shrugged and said "Just tell them that I had to finish a project that counts towards my internship at the hospital. Or I will. I just don't think I can hide out in here and wait on things to blow up in my face or to be made an idiot out of."

"Just stay. One more night. If you run now, you're just going to keep right on running. And as your parent, that concerns me how okay you are with it." Stephanie said as Emmaline bit her lower lip and looked at her keys and suitcase, then at her stepmother and said quietly, "Fine. But I just have this feeling that everything is about to get really, really messy."

"And you have me to talk to. We'll handle this."

Emmaline looked at her and then nodded, fear in her eyes. Stephanie left the room, satisfied that she'd at the very least talked her stepdaughter out of a continued pattern of distancing herself from the remote chance that she might even feel a little pain or any other real emotion.

She did worry that Emmaline was probably going to wind up telling her father and she found herself dreading what was going to happen when it all came out.

"Maybe this will all work out for her."


	4. what we want

CHAPTER THREE

_What We Want  
_

She'd just dove into the pool and emerged. His hand slid across her hip and he said quietly "Finally decided to stop running and hiding? Good." as she turned to look at him, less than amused, her hand in her dirty blonde hair as she bit her lower lip. "If my father sees you over here, Randy, he'll kick your ass." she said in a flat tone of voice as Randy shrugged and said calmly, "And I'm a big boy. Not afraid of him."

"I am **not** worth throwing away the push you've been getting." Emmaline warned as Randy laughed and then asked "So you do watch?"

"Not often, no.. Just not into watching people I care about willingly get the living shit beaten out of them." Emmaline said as Randy looked at her and smirked a little. Had she been vague on purpose, or had she just been talking about her father and her friends? He had the feeling that she meant him in that statement too, but he didnt' comment. No sense in spooking her, she'd go right back into seclusion again and that's the last thing he wanted.

They needed to talk about that night.

He wanted to talk about that night.. Hell, to be honest, he wouldn't mind repeating that night.. He only wished that he'd known it was as big of a deal as he knew now that it had been for her.. He'd had a long and very interesting conversation with her best friend AJ and he knew everything she'd said the next day.

So he knew that his putting up a fight, randomly trying to bump into her, the way he flustered her was all a good sign. If he kept it up he just might get what he wanted.

"Red's a good color for you. Brings out your eyes." he casually commented as she looked at him and said with a shrug " So... You managed to get my best friend to swap rooms with you, you can't stop popping up every time I step out of my hotel room.. What do you want? I mean if you're going to use this to get to my father, Randy, I'd really prefer if you'd quit dragging ass about it and just do it. That way I'm not walking around on pins and needles."

"And I told you, Emmaline.. If I was doing this to piss your dad off, I'd have done it a long time before now. When I want something I'll do whatever I have to do to get it." Randy stated as he looked at her, pulled her against him. She must have been cold, she was shivering a little. "Relax."

"How the fuckin hell can I, Randy, when you keep appearing wherever I am? When I spend at least half my time wondering when you're gonna use this to get to my dad? I know you say you want, Randy, but I'm not an idiot either. There is no way in hell that you're actually attracted to me."

He blinked and then looked at her, wondering why the hell it was so hard for her to actually believe that yes, someone could actually want her like he did.

But then he felt a surge of jealousy too. If other guys saw in her what he did..

_'Relax Orton.. You were the first guy to touch her. And somehow, damn it, you're gonna be the last. You waited too long for this.' _he thought to himself to calm himself down. Emmaline bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "My stepmother knows."

He shrugged and then said "And?"

"And? It's only a matter of time before I have to tell my dad."

"If anybody tells him, won't be me." Randy said as he held her gaze and then started to chuckle, as he asked her "Do you ever relax?"

"I did, once."

"Touche." Randy said as she bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "I just don't get it.. You say you're not trying to piss off my dad. You say that you were warned about me once already.. You keep saying all these things and popping up wherever I happen to be. Why do you do that? What the hell do you want?"

"Honestly? I want you.. Kinda got my ass in trouble with your father once before. The only reason I didn't act on it then was because you wouldn't even look at me." Randy said as Emmaline bit her lower lip and then asked him "Is it something I said that night? That made you start this now?"

"Yeah.. That and I realized that one night wasn't gonna do it for me." Randy said as he caught one of the guys staring and pulled her just a little closer, glaring at the guy who'd been staring, daring him to keep it up. He'd have to deal with the guy later if their paths crossed again.

Emmaline began to laugh and then she saw the serious expression on his face and looked at him with a raised brow. "You weren't joking? That wasn't a line?"

"No, actually, it wasn't. I'm not the kinda guy who wastes time beating around the bush. I go after what I want. I happen to want you." Randy stated with a shrug as Emmaline looked up at him, tried to step back a little bit. The tension between them was so thick you could almost see it.

Was it getting hotter in the area they were in or was it just in her mind?

"Why do you do that?" Randy asked as he pulled her back into the position he'd had her in before when he realized she was covertly trying to distance herself. "Do what?" Emmaline asked as she looked at him for a moment and he answered "Keep flinching and backing away, into the nearest corner? I mean do I really scare you that much?"

"Not you, Randy."

"Then what?"

"I'd rather not go there, okay? I mean how do I know this isn't all some stunt to get even with my dad?"

"Because, Emmaline, like I said earlier. If I wanted to do that, I'd have done it already." Randy said as he looked at her and then added "And I'm not going to."

She wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, but he said quietly in her ear, "Gonna go now.. Wouldn't want your dad to see me talking to you."

He swam back over to his own side of the pool and watched her watching him with a confuised look on her face as he thought about the interesting conversation he'd had with her best friend AJ earlier. It hadn't taken much to get AJ to agree to switch rooms with him, and he honestly hadn't been expecting her to be so helpful and actually tell him everything Emmaline had told her about how he made her feel.

And she'd told her stepmother what happened, which meant she had to be thinking about it, right?

Emmaline scowled to herself as she watched him from the side of the pool she stood on. She knew that he'd went over to the other side of the pool because her father bought her sisters down to swim and now she was torn two ways and she hated that.. On the one hand, she wanted to go over there, where he was and be brave for once, talk about that night and find out why he was so insistent that he did actually want a nothing like her, and then on the other.. She didn't dare do anything that might make her father mad, that might rock the boat, that might get Randy (and maybe herself) into a whole world of trouble.

She grumbled as she turned and plastered on her best convincing happy face and started to swim over to her sisters and her father. Now wasn't the time or the place for any potential discussion that she and Randy might have. Or her and her father. And all she really wanted right now was to pretend for just a little longer, that she was still the good girl. That she wasn't torn and emotionally all over the place, that she didn't want what she couldn't actually have or keep.

She just wanted her uncomplicated, dull and eventless life back.

But damn it, she also wanted Randy. She wanted to feel the spark he woke in her a few nights ago, and before that, when she'd first set sights on him at the age of 18 when he was too old for her and she wasn't too damn scared to just dream that one day, everything she ever wanted might actually happen for her.


	5. caving in pt 1

CHAPTER FOUR

_Caving In_

She groaned and rolled over in bed when she heard the door being knocked on. "Just a minute." she called out, a little cranky at having been woken up. A look at the time on her cell phone made her even crankier. Who in the hell woke up at 6 am? She dragged her fingers through thick and sleep matted dirty blonde hair and glared silently at the door.

Finally, she slipped out of the bed and made her way to the door to her room, opened it. A single red rose sat on the table in the hallway outside of her door. Nobody was standing out there, the hallway was empty. This was only the second or third time it'd happened since a few nights ago when she and Randy slept together.

Everything about the way he was behaving was against his very nature. She suspected that he was getting a little help, probably from their nosy friends and she looked around one more time, bit her lower lip and shrugged. Taking the rose, she smiled a little, passed it under her nose. It had a sweet scent.

"Damn it, he's gotta stop doing this shit. Or my dad will figure out before I figure out a way to tell him what happened so Randy can't use it against him in some bizarre way." she muttered to herself as she stepped back into her room and shut the door behind her, locking it.

The door that connected her room to the bathroom that joined her room to the next room opened and Randy stood there, towel wrapped around his torso, arms crossed, the muscles taut.

"Seriously?" she asked as she held up the roses that she'd been getting. He shrugged and smirked, said nothing. The roses had been Cena's idea, he'd been intent on just keeping on as he had been but AJ and John, some of their other friends told him bluntly that if he wanted Emmaline to actually believe and know that he wasn't actually interested in revenge, that he did feel things for her and the things he felt were stronger than he was used to, they weren't going away anytime soon and he tried a thousand times over to just ignore it..

"Damn it, Randy. I told you the other day. You cannot keep doing this."

"And I told you, Emmaline.. When I want something, I'll do whatever I have to to get it." Randy said back as he smirked and then added "Admit it.. You like this."

She just looked at him, tried to keep her face devoid of anything that might encourage or discourage him. She wanted to look indifferent. They were leaving in a few days, she'd be back at LSU, he'd get on the road and meet some other girl, probably a prettier one, one more like the kind of girl he usually went for and their lives would go back to the way they'd been before. She couldn't let him wear her down or it'd hurt her even worse when he did have to leave with the show.

And she was quite sure that when she worked up the nerve to actually tell her father what happened, her father was going to do whatever he had to to drive a wedge between them if she dared to let Randy in, let him closer.

"Even if I do, Randy.. It will not work."

"How do you know? Are you a fortune teller or something?" Randy asked as he chuckled, looked at the way her face flushed a creamy pink when she got angry, the way her posture stiffened and her lips curved into this full and angry pout. "You're cute when you're irritated." he remarked casually as he shut the door to the bathroom they had to share and put his sweats on.

Then he stepped into her room and walked up behind her where she currently stood in the mirror on the dresser, trying to fix her hair.

She tensed a little as his arms went around her waist and he turned her around. "Did you not like the roses? I told Cena the damn flowers were a bad idea."

"I liked them, it's just.. I'm me, you're you.. I don't see what in the hell you could possibly want with me other than using me to get to Dad. I mean I know you two hate each other ,that doesn't just go away."

He shrugged and said casually, "But if I were gonna tell him, Emmaline, I could've done it a million times already. I haven't." as his lips grazed the soft flesh on her neck. She shivered and looked up at him.

Something her stepmother said during one of their talks a few days ago, after she'd told her what happened with Randy came back to her mind then and she thought it over.

"_She's right.. I don't really have any way of knowing what will happen. But I'm so damn afraid of what could go wrong..." _she thought to herself as she looked up at him. "You okay?" Randy asked, looking at her with a raised brow. "I'm okay." she finally made herself reply before stepping away from him, pacing a little, pondering over how to say what she was torn between saying and whether it was a good idea to do so or not.

"You're starting to wear me down.. And that's not good, damn it.. I have my whole life planned out and you come into it.. And it scares the hell out of me, okay? I just.. I don't do well with things like this." Emmaline said as Randy listened, brow raised. She was pacing so much he wondered how she hadn't worn a trail right through the thick lush carpeting.

He stopped her pacing with his hands on her upper arms. "You think I'm good with this shit?" he asked, laughing a little, looking at her.

"I don't know. I just know I'm not."

"So I am wearing you down, huh?"

"Yes. And I don't like it because in the next two days, Randy, you guys will be back on the road. I'll be back at LSU."

He nodded, he'd thought about this already, actually. He didn't like it, but he wasn't going to butt into what she was doing, her where he thought she belonged, with him.

"Do you have to know the answer to everything ahead of time?" he asked, curious. She looked at him and then shrugged and said "Wasn't planning on this happening, that's for sure."

"SO you regret it?"

"No, not even. I just.." she trailed off, trying to choose her words carefully. If she said what she felt, too many things could happen.

She took a fgoing to college. He'd just basically figured that if it worked for them, he'd love it. If not, then at least he couldn't say he hadn't finally tried to getew deep breaths and looked at him then said " Like I said. You're wearing me down. I'm starting to see that you mean what you say, but what's got me the most confused is why me? Of everyone you've ever met, Randy, why me?"

He looked at her and then said quietly, "Why not you?"

She bit her lower lip and then said quietly, " Because.. I just don't think I'll actually make you happy."

"You would, actually, if you'd stop being so damn stubborn and give in already. At least try, don't spend so much energy fighting what we both know you feel." Randy asserted, staring her down calmly.

She bit her lip and raked her hands through her hair as she looked at him and muttered to herself "Fuck it. I'm too damn tired to keep fighting this. To keep fighting you, you stubborn ass." as she moved towards him again.

"Wasn't so hard, huh?" he laughed making her glare up at him and say "Really?"

He shrugged and then said "So.. Do you eat breakfast? Or do you live on those cereal bars?" as he nodded his head to the box of granola bars on the counter in the small kitchenette area of her hotel room. She looked up at him and said with a scowl "Haha. Look, I stay busy. It's hard to stop and cook when you're going from class to work to an internship."

"Ahh.. So you don't cook."

"Why do you say it like that, huh?" she asked as she added defensively, "I cook.. If by cook you mean Ramen. I mean I can cook, I've done it when I was home for the holidays. But at school it's just easier to eat a cup of ramen."

He smirked. This was the most she'd said at him without trying to push him away since the night they'd spent together.

"Look, I'm hungry.. A guy's gotta eat. I found this place earlier this week.. It's private." he said as he looked at her. She nodded and said "Okay, alright. I'll get dressed."

"Don't let me stop you." he said with a teasing smirk as she put her hand on her hip and pointed him to the door, blushing a little as she said "That night doesn't count. Just because you saw me naked then doesn't mean it's gonna happen again anytime soon."

He pretended to pout and she gave him a look. He waved his hands and stepped into the bathroom so she could change. A few minutes later, she knocked on the bathroom door and he smirked to himself as he heard room service delivering the food he'd ordered for them before he'd walked over to her room.

He stepped aside, nodded his head to his room and she looked at him a moment, confused. Then he said "Told you the place was private." with a smirk as she laughed a little and walked into his room.

As they sat eating breakfast and talking, she realized that maybe her stepmother had been right. Maybe she owed it to herself to finally do something about what she felt.

Now how in the hell was she going to break this to her father?

And what if this all blew up in her face?


	6. caving in pt 2

CHAPTER FIVE

_Caving In, Pt II  
_

"No, seriously.. I'd really rather like to see where the actual hell I'm gonna walk, Randy. So I don't trip and fall or something equally embarassing." Emmaline said as Randy gave her a raised brow look that thanks to the bandanna she had tied over her eyes she didn't actually see. The park near her college's campus had a very secluded nature trail and the second he'd found this out, he'd decided to do something a little risky, decided to at least try to prove to her that this whole thing was not just him trying to use her to get to her dad, hit him where it hurt and where the man least expected it. No, contrary to what she'd brainwashed herself into believing, he actually did like her. He had for a long time now so this wasn't just his usual conquest game that he played. No, this was all new and unfamiliar territory to the Viper.

And he wasn't entirely sure just how well he'd do without screwing it all up, but damn it, she'd shown him the night they had their one night fling that she really did feel that spark between them too, that she might have always felt it, if anything her friends on his roster said were true. Because it meant something to him, even if he was reluctant to put a name or a label on it yet.

"Can't you just trust me, Emmaline?" Randy asked, chuckling when she grumbled and then tried to fumble with the bandanna one more time. He picked her up and jogged down the trail, her protesting about having two perfectly good and working legs from over his shouldr the entire time, which he answered calmly, "But you were takin forever."

"Because, Randy, maybe I can't see through a damn blindfold? Why blind fold me to take a walk in a park anyway?" she asked impatiently again, she'd never been fond of surprises, actually, and this entire thing with Randy, from the night they'd spent together to the things he kept doing, like today for example.. It was taking a lot of getting used to, a lot of worrying and a lot of guilt. She hated sneaking around, hiding this from her father. She'd never hidden anything from him, but she knew that he'd have a thousand flying pigs if he knew not only was she with a fighter, she was with a fighter he specifically told her never to even think about falling for.

And even though she hated admitting it, that meant she didn't have control of the situation anymore, she was starting to fall harder for Randy. The show only had a day left in town and then he'd be moving on to the next town. She'd finally caved in just enough so that she'd at least have a few fond memories of this when she looked back as a little old lady.

She'd never regret it, no matter w hat happened when her father finally found out or she told him because she had to and all hell broke loose. No matter what happened after the truth came out, she was never going to shame herself for having had this small chance at the happiness she'd wanted for ages for herself. But she knew that the time with Randy was fast coming to an end. And she knew that he'd leave town, move on to the next notch on his bedpost, at least that's what she kept telling herself.

She couldn't let herself think even for a split second that he'd ever want to settle down with her. Not Randy Orton, not the Viper.. He wasn't the settling kind of guy, and she wanted stable, steady.. She didn't want to have to lie awake nights and worry what he might be out doing. She knew that her mother and her father had argued like crazy about that before she'd been born and before her mother basically decided that she didn't want to actually be a parent to her child, and yes, while she knew that most if it was paranoia and jealousy, guilt on her own mother's part.. She still worried that if she let her guard down, she'd be living the same mistake filled path as her parents had.

But her dad had Stephanie now, he was happy, happier than she'd seen him in a long time if she had to think about it.

"Because, Emmaline.. maybe it's more fun this way." Randy chuckled as he saw the little clearing ahead of them, saw the picnic basket he'd let Cena hide earlier sitting there, ready. "Ready to open those eyes babe?" he asked as he put her down and stood behind her, untying the bandanna and letting it fall away. She turned to look at him and blinked for a few moments, speechless. This was definitely not a side of Randy that anybody ever saw. And she suspected that he had help planning it, yet again.

Should she let her guard down a little more? He was putting up one hell of a fight for this not to end soon... But he'd be leaving tomorrow. And she was going to have to throw herself back into school, try and move on past this. It'd be unfair to expect him to commit or anything. Especially when she was too big of a coward to just tell her dad what was going on and let things happen.

"Wow.. I... This is amazing." she finally managed to say as she sat down, let him flop down beside her. He put his arms around her and said quietly, "It's not much.. But damn it, I'm not good with this shit either."

She nodded and said "It's actually perfect.. It's not public, there aren't a thousand cameras being shoved in your face or mine or anything.. It's quiet, it feels like it's only the two of us in the world. I wanna live somewhere remote like this.. One day." with a sigh as she sipped the soda she'd grabbed from the basket. He laughed and said with a shrug "You'd like my place in Missouri then.. Kinda remote.. I hate dealing with people, actually. Especially the damn reporters."

"I know how that has to feel. I'm just glad that I don't have to. Most people don't really recognize me unless I'm with my dad. Which is perfectly fine with me, believe me. I've never liked those big events they went to or held. Never felt like I fit in.." Emmaline said as Randy nodded and laughing said "Same here.. And the fuckin ties choke me."

"And the dresses. I hate dressing up. I've never actually liked it." Emmaline admitted as Randy nodded and said aloud "I know. Kinda what I noticed about you first, actually."

"Right.. Sure it was." Emmaline stated as she bit into the chicken breast and then leaned back on her elbows, fanned herself. "There is a pond, right over there." Randy said with a wicked and mischevious gleam in his eye as he looked at her, taking long bites of his food.

"And I have no swimsuit."

"Don't need one." Randy stated as she blushed all over. "What? It's not like we haven't seen it all already." he stated, shrugging. She nodded and laughed a little as she said quietly, "Fine.. But I'm not gonna skinny dip. No telling what's in that pond and I really do not feel like scarin up something." which made him laugh and ask "And you don't think I'll keep you safe, huh?" pretending to pout as he asked.

"It's not that.. It's just.. You're leaving tomorrow.. I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to get any more attached or something." she admitted, shrugging as she looked at him and drew in a deep breath.

"I might be leaving town.. But it's called downtime."

"And you know you'll meet someone better."

"How the hell do you know?" he snapped, looking at her, apologizing as he said quietly "I don't wanna fight, okay? Just want to enjoy what time I have left with you until I've gotta leave town."

She nodded and fell silent not sure what to say now. Mentally, she kicked herself for not even being capable of letting her guard down for just one damn day.. That's all she had left with him and she'd waited so long for this. She was sick of being afraid of someone finding them out and ratting to her dad. She was going to sit down and tell him soon.. Or all the guilt was going to drive her insane.

And she wanted Randy to see that she really did want him. Even if he wound up not really wanting her, this all having been some kind of twisted plan to get back at her father for things he did years ago.

"Okay.. Sorry, I just.."

"I know.. I kind of talked to AJ about why you keep throwing up the walls.. And I know enough about you to know what happened to you back then. And I'm going to prove I'm not just after you to get to your father, one way or another. For now though.. Let's just enjoy today, huh?" Randy asked as she nodded and smiling said "I'd like that."


End file.
